Gaining the Upper Hand: USU Chemists Spark Campus-wide Disposable Glove Recycling Effort

LOGAN, Utah - The acronym PPE (personal protective equipment) became a household word during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many associate PPE with masks, but the term encompasses implements ranging from earplugs to Level A hazmat suits.

Utah State University scholars know long pants and closed-toed shoes are to be worn – a first line of defense – in campus labs. They dutifully don lab coats and button them up. Those smart, white jackets aren’t just for show; their fabric is flame retardant. Then come safety glasses and gloves. Always gloves.

“Glove protection is two-fold,” says Utah State University chemist and doctoral student Calvin Luu. “The gloves protect you from exposure to potentially harmful substances, but, in our field, they also protect our experiments from contamination from germs we have on our hands.”

Laboratory gloves are usually made from plastics or a synthetic rubber called nitrile. These materials are resistant to oils, acids, abrasion, punctures and chemicals.

“And we use a lot of them at Utah State,” says biochemist and doctoral student Hannah Feinsilber.

Luu, for example, has taught general chemistry classes for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, which accommodate some 800 students per semester.

“In the labs for these classes alone, the department is using about 1,000 pounds of one-time-use gloves per year,” Feinsilber says. “And that’s just one course. Gloves are used daily throughout the university.”

Beyond labs, she notes, USU Dining Service and USU Facilities also depend on gloves to complete essential tasks, while protecting workers and consumers.

“All of these gloves generate a huge amount of waste so, as fall 2024 semester came to a close, Calvin and I set up a system, beginning with this spring semester, to collect and recycle the gloves used in general and organic chemistry labs,” Feinsilber says. “We got support from faculty members, placed designated containers in the labs and trained lab assistants and students on how to properly dispose of the gloves.”

The students established a process to retrieve those gloves and collect them in zero-waste pallet bag purchased, with support from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, from New Jersey-based recycling company Terracycle. The collapsible, polyethylene bag, which measures about 35 x 35 x 40” and can hold several semesters worth of gloves, currently resides in the department’s loading dock on the first floor of the Eccles Science Learning Center.

“Our goal is the fill it up, send the contents off to Terracycle for recycling and start again,” Feinsilber says.

She will present details of their glove recycling system and how other Aggies can participate Tuesday, April 22, at 5 p.m., in the Taggart Student Center Sunburst Lounge during USU’s 2025 Earth Week observance.

“We hope everyone using disposable gloves will join us to find out how, together, we can make a big impact,” Feinsilber says.